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Sotheby’s Sells Romanov jewels

A collection of jewels worth 2 million euros ($2.9 million), most of which belonged to the last Russian tsar’s family, have surfaced in the Swedish Foreign Ministry’s storage rooms. The jewels that belonged to the Romanovs were handed over to the Swedish Embassy in St. Petersburg for safekeeping after the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, Ekot radio station said. They were found while storage items were being moved, the report said. The collection includes around 60 gold and silver cigarette cases and cuff links, and jewels made by Faberge and the Bolin family, who were court jewelers to five Russian tsars and three Swedish kings, Ekot said. “We have discovered a large quantity of jewels which were brought to what was known as the Swedish mission in Petrograd in November 1918 by a confidant of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna,” said professor Krister Valbek. The Grand Duchess died in France without telling her family about the jewelry taken to Sweden. The jewels were kept in Sweden for about 91 years. Swedish authorities had made no mention of them earlier for security reasons, and wary over harming relations with the Soviet Union. The jewels have been handed over to members of the Romanov family. Some of them will be auctioned off at Sotheby’s London in November.

The objects, which include 100 cigarette boxes, are expected to fetch about 1 million pounds ($1.6 million), said Sofia Stroem, a spokeswoman for Sotheby’s in Stockholm. “Unknown for generations until their recent rediscovery, the objects, some of which still contain evidence of use by the Romanovs — remnants of tobacco and period Bogdanov cigarettes — truly evoke the grandeur and sublime taste of their original owners,” Marcus Linell of Sotheby’s said in a statement. The most expensive cigarette boxes may fetch as much as 90,000 pounds, while a pair of cufflinks could sell for as much as 6,000 pounds, according to Sotheby’s estimates. The cheapest cigarette boxes may sell for as little as 700 pounds, while the cheapest cufflinks may fetch as little as 80 pounds, said the auction house.

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2 thoughts on “Sotheby’s Sells Romanov jewels”

That angers me so much! The Romanov items should not been auctioned off! The jewels need to go into a Russian museum were they belong! This is very disappointing and sad that Sweden would not give the Romanov collection to a Russian Museum!
Oh and Queen Elizabeth also has Romanov jewels and she will not gibe them to a Russian Museum. The jewels belong to Russia and Russia only!

These items were personal property,not State. Considering what has happened to the remainder of the Romanov legacy – confiscated by the State, much of it (including Faberge eggs and other cultural treasures) broken up, melted down and sold for scrap – with the proceeds disappearing in many instances never to go towards the good of the people – it’s probably better they be sold this way. The heirs to the Romanovs benefit from the proceeds, and those who pay top dollar for the items are far more likely to preserve and take care of them, than putting them into the hands of the government. So long as they remain in private hands, the opportunity for loan for exhibit is there. Give them for free to a museum, they will not receive the conservation and security they’d get if they were paid for. This is a fact of life in the museum field.
The Windsors paid for those Romanov jewels in their collection, and are also private property – not State. They also paid fair market value for them, as records surfacing over the past decade show, to the daughters of the Empress, whose property they were.
It is said that Viktor Vekselberg (owner of the former Forbes Faberge collection) stores the collection in London when it is not on loan – not Russia.